Personal safety and theft are also concerns. Heyhoe asked that the Register not identify specific sleeping spots, to protect the people who stay there. Clarke also declined to give specific locations, for the same reason.

A group of runners from the Crossfit gym around the corner jogged down an alley as Manley drove through. Heyhoe didn’t see anyone in a small parking area behind the adjacent body shop. But Manley pulled the car a few feet ahead to look behind a white pickup truck.

Sure enough, a pair of tennis shoes poked out from beneath a mustard-colored blanket. Heyhoe hopped out of the car and tiptoed around the sleeping form.

“Male, middle-aged,” Heyhoe said back in the car. “Well spotted.”

A few minutes later, Heyhoe recognized a couple, Cindy and Dave, camped out in front of a thrift shop. She got out of the car to give them both hugs.

“To be honest, there’s three more here, but they just left,” Cindy told Heyhoe. The couple declined to give their last names.

“Everybody is up and about to do things we would normally do,” Heyhoe said later. “Find a restroom, get some coffee.”

Heyhoe then spotted a woman on a yellow beach cruiser riding past and marked her down.

“She’s a tenacious lady,” Heyhoe said, adding that the woman has been in school studying and living on the street on and off.

“She realizes education is the thing that’s going to get her out of it.”

METHODIC APPROACH

Heyhoe and Manley returned to City Hall just after 7:30 a.m. In all, they’d counted 14 homeless people.

Some homeless sleep in Talbert Regional Park, an undeveloped stretch of land at the end of West 19th Street. It’s too large an area for volunteers to survey on foot in an hour.

Those people likely were counted by the team that covered the area around Lighthouse Outreach Ministries. Lighthouse has Bible study at 7 a.m. and breakfast at 8 a.m., so it was assumed the homeless in the park would have headed there early.

Dr. Ed Clarke, a professor of sociology at Vanguard University, organizes groups of volunteers before dawn to spread throughout Costa Mesa and count homeless residents. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cindy, a homeless resident of Costa Mesa, left, laughs while Becks Heyhoe, right says hello to her friend Dave, right. Heyhoe was canvassing a Costa Mesa neighborhood to count the number of homeless people in a given area. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Costa Mesa Police Lieutenant Mark Manley points out a homeless man on a bike as part of a count to determine the number of homeless in Costa Mesa. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A homeless encampment was already empty when volunteers spotted it early in the morning as part of an annual census of homeless people in Costa Mesa. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A volunteer fills out a sheet before organizing into groups to count the homeless in Costa Mesa Thursday. The effort was organized by Vanguard University and the Churches Consortium. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Becks Heyhoe walks back to a car after counting a homeless man in Costa Mesa. Heyhoe is with the Churches Consortium and helped to organize the homeless count. The homeless population numbers are used to make policy recommendations for homeless issues in the city. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Costa Mesa Police Lieutenant Mark Manley, left, and Becks Heyhoe with Churches Consortium, right, drive through an alley way in Costa Mesa while counting the homeless population in the area. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Becks Heyhoe walks back to a car after counting a homeless man in Costa Mesa. Heyhoe is with the Churches Consortium and helped to organize the homeless count. The homeless population numbers are used to make policy recommendations for homeless issues in the city. STUART PALLEY, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.